The Instigator
by Dissappear
Summary: The team receives a chilling case in which 22 mutant children have disappeared in the past two years, but the case wasn't recommended to the BAU until the unsub threatens to go to the media, which would cause ma riots. With the help of two X-Men, will the team find the unsub before a war is sparked over mutant rights? Meanwhile, the time ticks away for the remaining children...
1. Chapter 1

"Until the philosophy which hold one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned... Everything is war. Me say war."  
-Bob Marley

"C-Can I g-go home? I m-miss my mummy!" a terrified six year old voice called. The poor child was sobbing, holding his younger sister. Oh, they looked so innocent! He was protecting her just as the boy watching them had protected his little sister.

"Shhh, shhh, don' worry, cher. I ain' gon' hurt you." No need for him to mention that their mother was already dead. "Sorry, lov, but you ain' goin' home fo' a bi'." For the rest of your life. "My name be Gabriel." No, his name was Ambroise, but his captors didn't like that name, so he was now Gabriel. "Mon soeur, Maya, she be here in a mo'. She help you." Angelique was her name, but he couldn't tell them that.

Gabriel was a slave, and so were Maya and several others in the huge castle they both lived in. Was it a castle? Mansion? He didn't know. All Gabriel knew was that it was fucking huge and if the new kids weren't careful, they'd get lost. As these two particular slaves had few duties because they were the master's personal slaves. , they had taken on the responsibility of introducing the newcomers into their lifestyle.

Maya walked in with a small tray of medical supplies to clean up some of the small cuts on the two. They hadn't cooperated and this was the result. "Come here, love. I'm not here to hurt you. You two need to be cleaned up." Maya was two year younger than Gabriel, and she'd grown up in England until the year before they were taken, which was about a year ago now. "'Briel and I will take care of you for now." There were six no, eight, slaves now. Four pairs of siblings including Gabriel and Maya. "What are your names, honey?"

"M-My name's M-Michael. A-And my s-sister's n-name i-is Sara." The girl was pretty, and the boy would grow up to be handsome. Both had brown hair and eyes, and were going to be good looking when they grew up, but for now they were just cute. Gabriel vowed to himself to protect them right then and there.

"Michael and Sara?" Maya dipped a cloth into the water and began to clean the dirt and blood from Michael's face. "Those are beautiful names." She wore a long, dark green dress with long sleeves that was fitted around her slim waist, and her almost golden hair hung in small ringlets around her shoulders and down her back. Gabriel began cleaning off Sara's face as well, giving her a reassuring smile.

Gabriel's clear, deepening voice began again. "Don' worry, mon cher. We's 'bout to take care o' you. You ain' gon' be hur' too much, 'cuz our Masta' gots you fo' servers. Me and Maya be here ta teach you everythin' you needa know, okay, cherie?" He had little names for the people he wanted to comfort, and they usually worked. He could see Sara visibly relaxing.

"W-We won't b-be hurt a-again?" Sara spoke for the first time, it was barely a whisper, and she was obviously terrified.

Gilbert gave her a small kiss in her matted hair and said, "I ain' gon' be able ta promise you dat. I can promise you, howeva dat we's be doin' our absolute bes' ta keep you from bein' hur'. Come on, we goin' ta go ta de baths. Maya's gon' be taken care o' you, cher. I gon' be taken care o' Michael. We's gon' to clean you off an' ge' you ready to serve, 'kay? Don' worry, hon, I's here ta take care o' you."

* * *

Jenifer Jareau, media liaison of the FBI, frowned as she looked at the files on her desk, more specifically, the one about twenty four children around Louisiana that have gone missing in the past two years, all siblings. The children were of all ages and no bodies had been found yet, they were just gone! And their parents had been killed. No clues except for one at every crime scene: a note that had the same perfect calligraphy.

'I am sure that you know why these particular children were taken. Even if you look for them, which I doubt, you won't find them. They're safe with me, and if they don't act up, they might even survive until they reach eighteen.' And there was a clue to the next crime scene, showing that each of these were premeditated and each pair of siblings had been targeted from the beginning.

It had only just been recommended to the FBI and once it got out to the media, mutants were going to be enraged! They had to solve this one fast. "Guys!" She ran out into the bullpen. "Conference room, we've got a big one."

When everyone was in the conference room around the circular table, she looked each of them in the eyes. "Twenty two children in Louisiana and Mississippi between the ages of four and sixteen have gone missing in the last two years, their parents were killed the night the unsub took them. No one's recommended the case until now, and only now because the unsub threatened to go to the media otherwise. He wants media coverage on this," JJ said, frowning a little bit.

Reid looked over his hard copy of the files. "Why wasn't this recommended before? Twenty two kids in a hundred miles with the same MO and similar notes left at every scene?"

"Because, although this was left out of the police report, these children were mutants," Garcia came in saying. She seemed a bit disgruntled by the fact that this case was passed over time and time again just because the kids were mutants. "Sorry I'm late, sir, I was looking at the victims. James and Isaac Black, kidnapped May 18th, 20011, Kay and Alyssa Lefstein, June 27th, 2011, which happened to be Kay's birthday... uhm, Laura and Grace Copperfield, August 6th, 2011, Kyle and Madison Bucholtz, October 17th, 2011, Jackson and Chris Hare, December 14th, 2011, Julie and Emma Stephens, February 16th, 2012, Ambrose and Angelique DeEntremont, April 21st, 2012, Barbra and Stevie Hearts, June 1st, 2012, Lucas and Joseph Glascock, August 1st, 2012, Aiden and Brett Louis, September 1st, 2012, Feliciana and Giovanni Vargas, December 31st, 2012, and Michael and Sara Bentley, just this past March."

As soon as Morgan heard 'mutant' the team could sense his disinterest in the case. "Why can't we leave this to the local police?" It was the first time they had a case dealing with mutants, and so, the team hadn't seen Morgan's bigotry yet.

"Derek!" Garcia said, appalled at his words. Any other time he would be itching to get on the plane, especially because he'd just gotten a huge stack of paperwork, but he'd just suggested that they pass up the case. "These are children!"

Derek was about to reply before Hotch was interrupted by his phone ringing and silenced them all with a look. "SSA Aaron Hotchner."

A smooth voice on the other end replied, "Oh, yes, I know who you are. My name is Charles Xavier and I run the Xavier Institute for mutants. I hear you've recently taken on a case involving the several mutant disappearances around Louisiana and southern Mississippi?"

"Who told you that?" Hotch's mind was running through the possibilities including this Charles Xavier somehow infiltrating the FBI or tapping the phone lines or-

"Don't worry, Agent Hotchner, your director told us. She has asked us to assist on your investigation as I am the leader of the X-Men." Hotch could clearly hear the older man's chuckle through his voice.

Hotch brought the phone from his ear. "X-Men?" he asked his team.

"A group of mutants who police the rest of the mutant community, run by Charles Xavier. They work around the law, but hardly ever with it, composed of between four and fifteen mem-" Reid started to spout off all his knowledge on the mysterious 'X-Men', but Morgan cut him off.

Morgan's deep, strong voice was heard across the conference room. "They're a glorified vigilante group that should have been stamped out ages ago!" His opinion was beginning to make Reid fidget.

"They're not all bad, Morgan," he mumbled, looking at his hands.

Morgan dropped it with a look, not really settling down, but letting it go with a, "Whatever, pretty boy." But he could tell Reid was upset by his words and vowed to try and remain more civil in the future.

"Yes, we're going to send three of our agents, Remy LeBeau, who knows the area well, and Logan Howett, who's a tracker. They will undoubtedly be of immense help to you. They should be arriving soon. Keep me updated, Agent Hotchner, will you?"

"Of course. I'll make sure that the team's welcoming to them, I'm sure they'll be a great help." Two men stopped outside the door, seeming to argue with each other. Then the slightly shorter, much more gangly man reached up and tweaked his nose, making the taller man snort in laughter and pushed open the door.

Hotch turned to his team. "Agents, these are a few members of the X-Men. They're here to help us. Right now we're going over victimology. Pull up a seat." Remy could feel the weariness of the team, especially from Derek, so he pulled Logan over towards the other side of the table.

"Dis way, Cher. Ain't no way Gambit can deal wit de emotions from dat side o' de room." Remy glanced over his shades at Derek, allowing Logan to figure out where the emotions came from, and the Cajun smirked as the FBI agent looked away in disgust. He wanted this man uncomfortable.

This new position put him right next to Reid who immediately brought him in, explaining the cases in depth. "According to the police reports, there was a similar notes at every crime scene, each with an obscure clue that only made sense after the vics had been abducted. Take a look at this one.

"'I am sure that you know why these particular children were taken. Even if you look for them, which I doubt, you won't find them. They're safe with me, and if they don't act up, they might even survive until they reach eighteen.

ThE NexT fEw weeks will ProbAbly be dIfficult for You, hoWever, FiNd SolsTice in tHe faCt that thEy'Re onLy mUtaNtS. 3.'

"If you take a third of the capital letters that aren't supposed to be capitalized, E-N-T-E-P-A-I-Y-W-F-N-S-T-H-C-E-R-L-U-N-S, you can spell "Spain St" which is where the next victim was found. That's where the three comes in. A third of the capital letters. But there are several hundred possibilities of words you can make with those letters and that number, so he must be giving intentionally impossible clues." Reid didn't comment on Remy's use of third person, and the boy wouldn't meet Remy's eyes. It wasn't because Remy was a mutant, it was because Reid was adorably shy and didn't want to see if Remy was judging him or not.

Remy, of course, could feel how shy Remy felt, and smiled softly. "Remy used to live right 'round de Spain Stree'! He live all over Ne' Awlens!"

"And I-I'm to assume that you're Remy?" Reid asked, turning slightly to face him, however, not managing to meet the mutant's eyes for more than a second before his flitted away.

"Remy Lebeau I am," he said, smiling slightly at the cute expression. Morgan growled and the mutant smirked.

Logan chuckled. "Easy Gumbo. Don't want to make passes too early." He ruffled the young man's hair and silently looked over the young Doctor Reid, making him squirm. The man could smell something decidedly not human about the boy and wondered vaguely if Reid was a mutant or he was wearing strange perfume.

Logan's words made Morgan grit his teeth, "Let's get back to the case, can we? The missing muties are be-" Reid shrank into himself at the barb, and Garcia and the mutants stiffened.

Pulling out a cigar to calm himself, Logan growled out, "I'd be careful who you make those slurs around, bub!" Although Morgan was unaware of it, the feral mutant could take him easily in a fight.

Morgan's face darkened a bit, and his voice came out low and dangerous. "Are you making a threat? You do realize I'm an agent of the FBI and threatening an agent is a federal crime!" His dangerous tone didn't frighten Wolverine at all.

"Easy, Morgan," Rossi said. "Wheels up in ten, are you three riding with us or on your own jet?"

"Our own, I can't stand bigoted idiots," Logan said, rubbing his knuckles and standing. "We'll follow behind you.

Reid stood as well. "Would it be o-okay if I went with Mr. Logan and Mr. LeBeau-"

"Remy, or Gambit if you prefer. Don't nobody call Remy Mr. LeBeau." Reid noticed that he used Remy when talking about himself to Reid, but Gambit when talking to Morgan. Perhaps it was just being dissociative, trying to protect himself.

"C-Could I go with you?" he asked, averting his eyes. "I-I just… I'd l-like to g-go over the case a l-little more with you g-guys to get you c-caught up." He just didn't want to hear Morgan make more slurs, and Remy could tell he was lying.

"Sure, mo' petit. Come wit' Remy, he take care of you!" They began walking to the X-Jet with Reid going on about the case, and Remy seemingly hanging onto every word. And just to annoy Morgan, he put his arm around Reid's shoulders just before they were out of sight.

…

Morgan fumed.


	2. Chapter 2

"Up! We're going to the fair today, the one where I got you two, Maya and Gabriel. Let's go." The man who took them ordered. The children rushed off to do his bidding, as they were told. Maya and Gabriel grabbed Sara and Michael and helped them along.

"Da ma'ter got some clothes fo' de two o' you las' night," Gabriel explained, carrying Michael through the rather large house, expertly finding his way to the closet that holds all of their clothes. "You's got a couple outfi's, so t'day, you's gon' wear a blue shir' and dese jeans, okay?" He talked the child through getting dressed, as he was rushing and couldn't wait for him to wake up fully. Teeth and hair were brushed before the little boy fully woke, and ten minutes later saw them at the front door, kneeling at the feet of the man who killed their parents.

"You four are to listen to me carefully. We're going to the place we took you from, and we're NOT going to get caught. If you draw attention to us in any way, you're going to regret it! They don't care about you, and they won't care if you die or not. They might take me in, but I'll make sure the rest of them starve. They're all chained to their bedposts now. They'll stay that way until we come back." As the man finished his speech, they stood up and trooped out behind him. Taking out Michael and Sara was a risk, but Gabriel and Maya would take care of them. The man turned halfway. "Oh, and you're going to enjoy yourselves and call me father. I'll permit you to get food as well, a hot-dog or hamburger and some cotton candy each and two funnel cakes to share."

Maya and Gabriel, for they knew exactly what the man expected them to do, grabbed one of his hands each and kissed the knuckle. "Yes, master, thank you, master." As they let his hand go, he patted their heads, this time not hurting them at all. They were following the rules and he had good will towards them at the moment, so he had no reason to hurt them.

"Oh, it's not a problem for good children. Now, as long as you behave, we'll be there the whole day!" He spoke with an upbeat tone and his words were kinder than they'd been in a while. He looked to the two other children. "From now on, you're all to call me 'father'."

"Yes, father, thank you, father." It was the expected response, and it made 'father' smile as even the two littler ones stuttered it out. They were learning much quicker than he'd anticipated. A week with him and the filthy mutants were already learning discipline, oh it made him beam! They were much more complacent than Gabriel had been. Perhaps getting them younger was the key to obedience. As they neared the age of eighteen he had to dispose of them, which was just too bad, as mutants could be useful for so many things! He tucked a piece of hair behind Sara's ear, ignoring the flinch. Yes, mutants could be good for many things.

This little girl, Sara, for instance, could make things grow! He learned just how powerful she was after a patch of flowers grew around her and formed a cocoon around her as she slept in the garden, blocking him from entering. Needless to say, she was punished with the power dampening cuffs, which, judging from her screams, had hurt quite a bit.

Pity.

Well, for today they all had power suppressing cuffs. Just to make sure. One on each wrist, disguised as bracelets, and only he could take them off. If they tried, he'd be alerted to their location and they'd receive a slight shock, not to mention what he'd do to them when they got home. Ohh, he'd have such fun! … Perhaps it was time to introduce the brand he'd just purchased.

As he heard the kids in the back of the car begin to quietly converse with each other, he looked back at them. Gabriel had dead straight, black hair, dark blue eyes, and olive skin, a truly beautiful boy, and he took advantage of that, he thought with a leer. His eyes drifted to Gabriel's left. The twins, Sara and Michael were cute enough with their brown hair and brown eyes, not to mention a smattering of freckles across their noses, but he didn't like young kids. He liked them when they were older. Thirteen to seventeen was his favorite range, and Gabriel and Maya were right in there at thirteen and fifteen. That brought his attention to Maya. A real beauty there. She seemed the opposite of her brother, with beautiful, shimmering, ringlets of blond hair cascading down her back and bright blue eyes, with slightly tanned skin to match. They were dressed like normal kids to match the appearance of being normal. Maya had on a purple shirt with some logo from a clothing brand on it, and tight jeans that fitted her perfectly. Gabriel was wearing a black wife beater and tight jeans as well, although not too tight. The kids were wearing plain, solid color shirts and jeans. They looked a bit skinny, but it didn't show too much. No problems there.

And that brought him to their powers. Mutants were truly amazing creatures, but this world was for humans. He was doing them a favor by allowing them to live as long as he did. And in complete safety from bigotry and hatred, he was protecting them. But he had to kill their parents so they didn't breed any more mutant scum! Anyway, back to their powers. Maya's ability was that people didn't remember her. Their minds seemed to not want to focus on her whenever they tried to remember, and if she didn't draw attention to herself, it was doubtful they'd notice her. She was pretty, but their eyes would just slide over her. Oh, she could also turn invisible at will, which was a nice touch. Michael was a telepath with limited telekinesis, while Sara had limited telepathy but strong telekinesis. Gabriel, well, Gabriel was probably the strongest mutant he had in his collection, and he was just a lucky find! He was what was called a feral, from the man's limited research, and, if given enough nutrition, he could heal himself completely, though one had to be careful while dealing with ferals, if pushed too far, the beast will take over, but oh what fun that would be to watch! The young mutant had wings and could fly, and his fingernails would also extend to form talons, which was rather interesting.

The man shook his head to clear it of all the thoughts, he pulled into the fairgrounds. "Alright kids! You stick near me, and report in when I call for you to, but other than that, today you're free to do what you want. You two," he looked at the two older kids. "Stick with your younger siblings. Don't let them go off alone. And also." He smiled. "Have fun."

"Yes, suh!" Gabriel mock saluted him, which he let slide with a smile. While they were out, the kids were able to act like kids and they wouldn't be punished for it, just as long as they were still respectful. Then, quietly, he asked, "What shoul' we call da bitty ones? Michael and Sara be too obvious, no?"

The man tapped his chin, reveling in Gabriel's fine, strong, Cajun accent that luckily hadn't faded. He loved to hear the mutant's accents. "We can call them…" he squinted at them. "Joseph and… Hunter." He'd cut Sara's hair so now the two looked nearly identical, and he'd also put them out in the sun periodically throughout the week, so they were now much darker than they had been. Subtle differences like these made it nearly impossible to recognize the children. Similarly, Maya's hair had grown longer and darkened to a golden, and her braces had come off, leaving her with perfectly straight teeth. Gabriel's eyes turned amber when his power emerged, and his hazel eyes had settled out into a deep navy blue, like the evening sky. Oh, he was such a pretty boy! "Alright children! Who wants to ride the Ferris wheel?" He was met with a chorus of happy children's voices.

* * *

Reid and Morgan's relationship hadn't been the same since Morgan's outburst in the conference room. Sure, they bunked together like usual, but Reid was spending as little time as he could in that room, and he was becoming more and more comfortable with the mutants. He was staying in their room going over the case or just talking with them for hours on end, staying until late at night and when he came back into the room, he fell straight into bed without saying a word, which would put a rift in their relationship anyway.

Reid hadn't told anyone, but the mutants suspected, he was a mutant too. His mutation, along with being incredibly smart, was that he could feel people's emotions, and his power was amplified through skin to skin contact. It was hard to keep it quiet, but he usually wore long sleeves and slacks so he didn't touch anyone, and when he did, he'd learned to control his reactions to it. That's why he took everything Morgan said so personally. He hated to think that his best friend would hate him! What if Morgan never talked to him again once he figured it out? And Reid had a hunch that everyone wasn't too far away from learning his secret. While the FBI wouldn't fire him for it (the Director of the FBI and Strauss knew, and promised him his job was secure) there might be some animosity in the workplace, so they kept it a secret. Thank God for small favors.

But… Morgan had insisted that they work this assignment together. They'd been here for about two days, and they'd gone over everything they could, so they were visiting the abduction sites. The children were abducted from public places, but the unsub came back to the home to kill the parent. Where was the logic in that?

The unsub frequently targeted schools, pretending to be an uncle or a close friend of the family, or carnivals and parades, where children, especially older children, sometimes went off alone. He always got the victims, from smart, streetwise, cynical teenagers, to doe-eyed, innocent children, to come with him. They knew he sometimes tricked them, threatened one to get the other.

"Ambroise, part of the seventh group taken, informed one of his friends that there was something wrong on the day he was taken. He felt like he'd been watched for weeks, but that day he'd felt it, whatever was watching him was closer than usual," Reid explained. In his hands was a file that he'd read already, and could recite. He knew he didn't need to look, but it gave his chocolate eyes somewhere other than the older man to look.

This, of course, drove Morgan insane. He knew that Reid didn't have to read over them again, and that he was only looking so that he wouldn't look at Morgan. So that he wouldn't see the questions hidden in his friend's eyes. "Reid…" he started, his voice betraying what he was about to say.

"You know what, don't. You've made it perfectly clear what you think about me and my kind, so please. Save it," Reid explained, finally looking back up at him. The pain was well hidden, so it wasn't really a surprise that Morgan hadn't realized that he'd hurt the young genius. Without missing a beat, he looked down at his notes and continued. "He was approached by a man wearing a dark colored shirt with his sister already with him, and he said he was looking for a second."

Morgan felt like a dick. He did. He was a profiler, for god's sake! He should have paid more attention to his best friend and now he'd said something stupid and almost lost him. How could he not have known he was a mutant!? This was Reid we were talking about! He was nothing like the mutants that Morgan had met before. "Right. And we only know it was his sister because-"

"Because one of his friends told us. I'm not an idiot, Morgan," Reid replied, not even sparing him a glance. He knew how to keep himself from being hurt, and this was one of the ways. He distanced himself from everyone, especially Morgan right now, he'd be able to keep himself from getting hurt. God, he couldn't stand if Morgan hurt him. "I read the files."

"Yeah, Reid, I know." God, how badly did he screw this up?

A little boy ran through the two of them, knocking the papers out of Reid's hands, a couple seconds later, another boy followed. "HUNTER! JOSEPH! GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!" a girl yelled. She turned to the two men and put on a charming smile. "I'm sorry, Mr. My brothers are a bit rambunctious when we go out. We're homeschooled." She began gathering up the papers, handing them back. "My father and brother are getting them right now. My name's Maya."

"I'm Doctor Spencer Reid and this is my associate, SSA Derek Morgan of the Behavioral Analysis Unit-"

There was no change on Maya's face, even though she was facing a choice. Salvation and the death of the others, or tricking these FBI agents and returning to hell? "Of the FBI? What are you doing here?" There was no choice really.

She couldn't let them die.

Morgan answered her. "Investigating."

"Oh… Well…" She took out her phone as if it had buzzed, but she knew it hadn't. "Gotta run. Hunter and Joseph are acting up or father and we have to go. I'm sorry about this. Good luck finding your kidnapper!" Then, she disappeared into the crowd. She only hoped it was enough to divert their suspicion from her and her family.

If she were a bit braver like Ambroise was, perhaps she would have begged help, but she wasn't. If she had a bit more faith in herself, she would have asked for them to save her. But she didn't.

If there was anything waiting for her back home, she might have turned herself in.

But there wasn't.

**I don't want you to hate me… but… Yeah. Here it is. I know it's kinda late, but here you go! **


End file.
